Sabrina Carpenter sent a clear political message during her performance at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, performing her new single, Tears, from her latest album, Man’s Best Friend.
The 27-year-old singer was joined on stage by a group of drag queens, including RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Denali, Willam, Symone, Laganja Estranja, and Lexi Love. Throughout the performance, Carpenter displayed large signs supporting the trans community, including messages such as “In Trans We Trust” and “Protect Trans Rights.”
Her performance comes amid ongoing restrictions by President Donald Trump’s administration, which recently issued orders limiting access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restricting participation of transgender girls in female sports.
Carpenter has a history of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. In 2024, at the Governor’s Ball, she performed Nonsense and included the line, “People who hate Pride can suck my Gov Ball.” In 2021, at the GLAAD Media Awards, she performed Skin behind a screen featuring uplifting images of trans youth.
The Tears performance also reflected themes from her music video, released alongside her seventh studio album in August. The video features actor Colman Domingo as a drag queen and draws inspiration from the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, known for its exploration of gender and sexuality.
Carpenter was a standout at the VMAs, earning nine nominations, including Video of the Year, Best Pop Artist, Best Album, and Song of the Summer. Her latest album has also set records as the most-streamed album on Spotify in a single day by a female artist in 2025.
